“It all started with how I was responding to chronic stress”

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

by Erin Stokes, ND, Medical Director at FoodState®

This afternoon, I worked with a patient who shared a big breakthrough in her healing journey. When I first saw Eva (name changed to protect patient privacy) two years ago, she was depleted in every way. A mom of three young children, she wasn't able to find the time to care for herself, and was starting to feel the negative effect. After years of waking up to take care of babies and toddlers in the middle of the night, the kids were sleeping through the night fine, but Eva didn't seem to know how to sleep anymore. She reported the classic “tired and wired” feeling of being exhausted but not being able to rest. Eva was also unhappy with the way she was snapping at her kids and didn't feel like she was managing even small stressors very well anymore.

Listening to Eva, the first herb I thought of was Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera), and I specifically wanted to suggest Ashwagandha in its standardized extract form - Sensoril®. A plant with thousands of years of traditional use in India, I've seen this adaptogen outperform the rest for that “tired and wired” state.* It seems to support a healthy stress response for people with a wide variety of different presentations , and is often the foundation of any treatment protocol to nourish the adrenal glands and support a healthy stress response.* For Eva, I knew that she wasn't going to be taking time off from being a mom anytime soon! So, I felt that I needed to include another botanical that would allow her to maintain strong, day-to-day energy, while nourishing and restoring her endocrine system.* Rhodiola (Rhodiola rosea) was the plant that best fit this description, and it would complement Ashwagandha beautifully in this situation.

Today, Eva reported feeling like a completely different person than she did 2 years ago. She believed the daily adrenal support helped her turn the corner in her health journey; back towards having more energy, sleeping well, and responding to life’s daily setbacks with greater ease. She said, “Everything I was experiencing, all of it… It all started with how I was responding to chronic stress in my life.”
What adaptogens do you use in your practice and why? Share with us and the practitioner community!

Dr. Erin Stokes, ND is the Medical Director at FoodState. Erin received her Naturopathic Doctor degree from Bastyr University in Seattle, Washington, in 2001. Erin combines her experience as a Naturopathic Doctor with an extensive retail background in the natural products industry. She truly enjoys educating others, and has taught Western Pathology and Psychology of Healing at Southwest Acupuncture College. Erin lives and and practices naturopathic medicine in Boulder, Colorado.

* These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

posted by Innate Response at

12:25 PM

“It all started with how I was responding to chronic stress”

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